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Never stated soley, but you specified "Mike Nolan's defense" as a major reason why we lost.

I also suppose my point was more general as we always have threads pop up screaming "Karlos Dansby cost us the season!", "good thing Marshall is gone, he lost us countless games!", "we shouldnt resign Wake, he lost us games by not getting enough pressure!", "we should trade Long, elite LT's dont win games!", etc, etc, etc. You pointed out Nolan as a major reason, i pointed out our entire team sucked.

yep our entire team sucked. However if our d had played up to the numbers they posted over the last half of the season in the beginning of the season, we don't lose 7 in a row. It's undeniable.

"I didn't feel like we had to score," Tannehill said. "I had the mindset we were going to score."

yep our entire team sucked. However if our d had played up to the numbers they posted over the last half of the season in the beginning of the season, we don't lose 7 in a row. It's undeniable.

O-kay. And if our players had come into camp in shape we would have won more games. If we drafted Andy Dalton we probably would have won games at the beginning of the season. If we didnt have a coaching staff and front office invested in Chad Henne LONG after it was apparent that he couldnt cut it, we would have won more games. If we hadnt signed Marc Colombo we would have won more games. If Tony Sparano could figure out how to manage a football game we probably would have won more games.

I dare say those points are undeniable as well. Im not sure im understanding the point. Nolan deserves blame for the first few games of struggling but he also deserves credit for turning the unit around? I'll agree with that. But Mike Nolan is no longer here. I dont think its a gross insult for a writer to look at our team and go "well, they got older, they have more holes, they are switching to a system that the players arent really best suited for, they have a rookie coordinator and they couldnt stop the pass even when they had a proven defensive coordinator.....hmm, ill place them third".

To me the big difference comes back to turnovers which puts an end to yards and scoring by opposing offense while setting up our own offense and momentum:

First 7 games = 4 turnovers

Last 9 games = 15 turnovers

Stats like this is why I gave Matt Moore a pass on his first 3 games starting. As a team we took a long time to start playing decent football. Lack of work outs before the season plus adding a OC who did not seem to know what he wanted to do plus Thomas, Clay and Gates etc being hurt. The OL was poor. Daboll had little idea what to do with R Bush.

Same thing on defense. Everyone was out of shape and I'm not sure if Nolan had everyone up to speed.

I can agree with this writer. At least until the games begin. If you look at the draft and free agency, the Patriots, Jets and Bills all went defense. We went offense.

We are switching to a 4-3 without having a great MLB. K Dansby is on his last season, two at most. We do not have 3 good solid corners and our safeties are suspect.

IMO, this is one reason we ran the ball so much, to shorten games and keep the ball out of the other offense's hands.

"Vastly improved" could mean moving into the top half of the league's defenses, which IMO, would be great for the Bills considering they were in the high 20s, and almost as bad as the Pats in pass defense.

On paper, I'd give the Jets the nod, but I think when they play the games, their statistically rankings will likely falter. I think that they may be pretty good against the run, but teams are going to gouge them in the passing game. Their safeties remain a big liability in the passing game, and there's no guarantee that they'll generate a better pass rush than they did last season. Coples is converting from a 4-3 DE to a 3-4 OLB as well as being a rookie.

I'd say, as of today, it's:
Jests
Fins
Bills
Pats

The Jets defense has been top 5 the past 3 seasons since Rex became HC, Rex wasn't as hands on with the defense last season but he will be this season. And I don't see how teams are going to gouge us in the passing game... Last season with a mediocre pass rush and bad safeties we still had a top 5 pass defense. We have IMO the best CB tandem in the league. And our safeties should be better than last season, if Laron Landry is healthy hes a guy that can ran a 4.35 coming into the league and has the range to blow guys up over the middle. Bell is better than Eric Smith. Overall I like our depth better at safety than last season, we have guys that should be more active, a lot depends on if Landry can stay healthy and if our rookies can contribute. My biggest issue with the defense is the lack of depth at OLB, Coples is not converting to OLB, he will be playing with his hand in the dirt. Bryan Thomas is coming off of a significant surgery and is older, not much of a pass rusher to begin with. Then there is Pace who is solid but not much of a pass rusher. Aaron Maybin has to build off of last season. But for the most part, the Jets play team defense.

I am not sure how well are D will be with the new coaches in place. I think it will take a little bit to get everyone to gel together but i think we will be ook. i think a mid pack ranked D for the year.

O-kay. And if our players had come into camp in shape we would have won more games. If we drafted Andy Dalton we probably would have won games at the beginning of the season. If we didnt have a coaching staff and front office invested in Chad Henne LONG after it was apparent that he couldnt cut it, we would have won more games. If we hadnt signed Marc Colombo we would have won more games. If Tony Sparano could figure out how to manage a football game we probably would have won more games.

I dare say those points are undeniable as well. Im not sure im understanding the point. Nolan deserves blame for the first few games of struggling but he also deserves credit for turning the unit around? I'll agree with that. But Mike Nolan is no longer here. I dont think its a gross insult for a writer to look at our team and go "well, they got older, they have more holes, they are switching to a system that the players arent really best suited for, they have a rookie coordinator and they couldnt stop the pass even when they had a proven defensive coordinator.....hmm, ill place them third".

don't be obtuse. I'm working with the knowledge that A.) our defense cost us the a lot of game last season esp in the beginning. B.) nolan was the DC (which I don't know why the **** i'm explaining this, probably has something to do with a poster being obtuse. C.) the D failing is ultimately on mike nolan. Of course the team failing is ultimately on sparano. which is why those two both deserved to be fired. I have no problem with saying the phins have the 3rd place D going into the season. heck I have no problem wtih saying they have the fourth place D. You don't subtract things like coaches and players and expect to have people see those as pluses.

btw if nolan didn't turn the unit around, then who did? who deserves the credit for making the D respectable by the end of the season? in this very thread someone said bowles deserves the credit. if so, I don't know how anyone could defend nolan based on last years 7 games of crap and 9 games of reduced authority. (waiting on confirmation of his "demotion".)

The Jets defense has been top 5 the past 3 seasons since Rex became HC, Rex wasn't as hands on with the defense last season but he will be this season. And I don't see how teams are going to gouge us in the passing game... Last season with a mediocre pass rush and bad safeties we still had a top 5 pass defense. We have IMO the best CB tandem in the league. And our safeties should be better than last season, if Laron Landry is healthy hes a guy that can ran a 4.35 coming into the league and has the range to blow guys up over the middle. Bell is better than Eric Smith. Overall I like our depth better at safety than last season, we have guys that should be more active, a lot depends on if Landry can stay healthy and if our rookies can contribute. My biggest issue with the defense is the lack of depth at OLB, Coples is not converting to OLB, he will be playing with his hand in the dirt. Bryan Thomas is coming off of a significant surgery and is older, not much of a pass rusher to begin with. Then there is Pace who is solid but not much of a pass rusher. Aaron Maybin has to build off of last season. But for the most part, the Jets play team defense.

If rex is smart, he'll keep his hands off the d, and keep the ball out of sanchez's hands too.

This ESPN analyst is a joke. Total Defense is the most deceptive stat in the NFL, it’s truly all about scoring defense; if you can’t score on a defense you can’t beat that team. The Dolphins were 6th in scoring defense; the Jets were an embarrassing 20th. The AFC East standings based on this crucial stat should be as follows…

1. Miami2.New England3.New York4.Buffalo

Total DepravityUnconditional ElectionLimited AtonementIrresistible GracePerseverance of the Saints